KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Late Saturday afternoon, crews removed a tree from the middle of Red Bridge Road near Wornall Road. Neighbors said that for almost 24 hours, the massive tree had been blocking two lanes of the street.
A shocking video showed a car driving by as the tree fell. It was missed by a matter of seconds.
“I was so thankful to God that it didn't fall and hit the car that had just passed,” said Joe Brumfield, minister of Southpoint Church of Christ, which is located next to where the tree fell.
The tree used to stand in his son's front yard.
“I kind of just froze for a second, and I thought, 'I cannot believe that tree has actually fallen into the street',” said Jacob Brumfield, Joe's son.
After calling officials, the Brumfield family decided to take action.
“I was out here for probably two and a half to three hours in the front yard, saying, ‘Hey, don’t hit the trees that are off in the roadway,'” Jacob Brumfield said.
They also used cones from the church’s construction site to alert drivers.
“It’s an inconvenience. It’s not fun to deal with, but nobody was injured, and that’s what’s most important at the end of the day,” Jacob Brumfield said.
KSHB 41 contacted the city of Kansas City to inquire about the timeline for street tree removal and to understand why it took nearly 24 hours to clear one from the middle of the road. We have not yet received a response.
Less than six miles away, another tree fell. This time, it landed on a house, sending the person who lives there to the hospital.
KSHB’s Fernanda Silva talked to her on the phone, and she said she’s recovering from a concussion. She also said it’s unsafe for her family to go back inside.
According to her, they don't have a place to go.
Maintenance worker Dario Perez spent the day working at her home.
“That’s a huge challenge. Imagine that any branch of that weighs 1 ton,” Perez said.
As crews cut the branches, the tree started to sink, so they had to pause the work for a while.
“We’re afraid that it might break the gas pipe; that’s why I put that piece of wood — you see there, rounded — just in case to hold something in place,” Perez said.
A crane removed the tree from the house later that evening.
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KSHB 41 reporter Fe Silva covers education stories involving K-12. Share your story idea with Fe.
